Stan Bisset MC OAM (27 August 1912 – 5 October 2010) was an Australian national representative

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player and military officer who saw active service in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early life

Bisset was born in

St Kilda, Victoria St Kilda is an inner seaside suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 6 km (4 miles) south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip Local governmen ...

on 27 August 1912. He was a promising

Australian Rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

football ruckman before being persuaded to play rugby.

Rugby union career

A second-rower, goal-kicker and captain, Bisset played with the Power House Rugby Club in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

.SMH obituary (ref rugby club)
/ref> During his tenure as first grade captain at Power House Bisset steered the side to two first grade premierships in 1935 and 1936, before earning Victorian selection the following year. Bisset played in the last Victorian XV to beat the Warratahs in a fixture at Manly Oval in 1937, and represented Victoria against the Springboks the same year. He was one of four Victorians who were selected for the ill-fated 1939 Wallaby tour of Great Britain that was captained by Vay Wilson. The team docked at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on the day when England declared war and after a couple of weeks spent filling sandbags to start the war effort, the squad set sail for Australia having not played a game. Of the unlucky tourists, only

Bill McLean William Malcolm McLean (28 February 1918 – 9 December 1996) was an Australian soldier and a state and national representative rugby union player who captained the Wallabies in five Test matches immediately after World War II. Pre-war rug ...

, Keith Windon and Len Smith would return to footballing success after the war.

Second World War

Stan and the team returned home where he joined the 2/14th Battalion joining his older brother Hal, known as Butch. Stan was a lieutenant in charge of an intelligence section while Butch was a platoon commander. Both men saw service in the

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before Australian forces returned to the South West Pacific in 1942 to defend Australia against the Japanese push through

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

on the

Kokoda Track The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japanese ...

. After arriving in Papua New Guinea, Stan and Butch were sent up the

to relieve the 39th Battalion who were holding out the Japanese at Isurava. During the battle Stan was wounded by a bullet which grazed an eyebrow, and Butch was wounded in action on the Kokoda Track and died in Stan's arms in 1942. Butch was buried on the Track. Stan was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for actions during the attack on Palliers Hill in the Markham and Ramu valleys in September 1943.

Honours

On 12 June 2000 Stan was granted a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to veterans particularly those of the 2/14th Battalion, 7th Division.

Later life

Stan died on 5 October 2010 at a nursing home in

Coolum, Queensland Coolum Beach is a beachside town and coastal suburb in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Coolum Beach had a population of 8,497 people. Geography Coolum Beach has the following mountains (from north to s ...

. He is survived by his wife Gloria, and his children, Sally, James, Holly, Tom and Ros.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisset, Stan 1912 births 2010 deaths Australian rugby union players Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Military Cross Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army officers Rugby union players from Melbourne People from St Kilda, Victoria Military personnel from Melbourne